After the latest version of the revised peace plan for Ukraine, Merz announces the “next step”. Who should do it

The next step in talks on the Ukraine conflict is for the United States to urge Russia to end the war by accepting as is the latest revised version of the peace plan originally proposed by the United States, which now reflects the joint position of Washington, Kiev and European allies, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Wednesday.

The head of the government in Berlin again asked the European allies to validate the use of frozen Russian assets to finance a loan for Ukraine at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday, as he believes that this would “intensify the pressure” on Russian President Vladimir Putin, AFP and EFE news agencies write.

“Now it's about presenting to Russia the joint position of Ukraine, the EU and the US and urging Russia to end the war on the basis of this plan,” the German chancellor told parliament in Berlin.

Mez that this is the “next step” in the process and that it is up to Washington to take it.

The federal chancellor took stock of the negotiations held in Berlin on Sunday and Monday between European, American and Ukrainian representatives, as a result of which the 28-point peace plan advanced by the US last month, which displeased Ukraine and its European supporters as it took on a number of Russian demands, including the cession of the entire Donbas to it, was revised “fundamentally” and a new peace plan emerged from the process, in 20 points, notes Agerpres.

The issue of territorial concessions, unresolved

However, as Merz himself admitted on Monday, during a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including in the new peace plan proposal, the issue of territorial concessions that Ukraine refuses to make to Russia remains unresolved.

Ukraine refuses to cede to Russia the territories of Donbas still under the control of Ukrainian troops and is skeptical of the US proposal to turn these territories into a demilitarized zone.

What the revised plan provides

Under the revised peace plan, Ukraine would cap its armed forces at 800,000 troops and give up its aspiration to join NATO, but would instead obtain security guarantees from its Western allies similar to those provided for in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, guarantees that would also be provided by a European peacekeeping mission, along with a US-monitored cease-fire monitoring mechanism.

However, it remains for Russia to agree to the proposals.

Moscow's position

After Putin's meeting in Moscow on December 2 with US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, Moscow said it accepted some proposals from the US peace plan for Ukraine, but rejected others as unacceptable, but the reference was to the version of the peace plan proposed by the US at that time, revised again in the meantime.

Russia is now awaiting the new proposal, but the Kremlin said on Wednesday that, at least this week, no further visit by the Witkoff emissary to Moscow is scheduled.

At this time, Putin accuses the European supporters of Ukraine of making demands in advance that are unacceptable to Russia so that they can accuse it of not wanting to make peace, demands such as the sending of European troops to Ukraine, the payment of war “reparations” by Moscow or the rejection of any territorial concessions by Ukraine, plus the current attempts of the EU to finance a loan to Ukraine from Russian assets frozen by sanctions.

Merz's appeal to Europeans

Regarding this loan, Merz on Wednesday launched a final appeal to his European counterparts to validate at the EU summit on Thursday and Friday the use of frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine.

“The use of these assets has a double purpose. On the one hand, we have to do it to help Ukraine, but it is also a signal to Russia that the frozen assets will be used to support Ukraine, which can use these resources to finance its defense for another two years,” Merz said.

Also, the German chancellor believes that this way would “intensify the pressure on Putin”.